The Green Brain by Frank Herbert (Ace, 1966)

An unexpected treasure from the Green Shed:

 

In an overpopulated world seeking living room in the jungles, the International Ecological Organization was systematically exterminating the voracious insects which made these areas uninhabitable.  Using deadly foamal bombs and newly developed vibration weapons, men like Joao Martinho and his co-workers fought to clear the green hell of Mato Grosso.

But somehow those areas which had been completely cleared were becoming reinfested, despite the impenetrable vibration barriers.  And tales came out of the jungles... of insects mutated to incredible sizes... of creatures who seemed to be men, but whose eyes gleamed with the chitinous sheen of insects...

Here is a vividly different science-fiction novel by the author of DUNE.

Every once in a while I pick up a book and I find myself thinking, "What was the author on when he wrote this?"

Need I add that this is one of those books?

It was probably at least partly inspired by Rachel Carson's The Silent Spring, a study of the ecological effects of pesticides which first appeared in 1962.  (In fact the eco-rebels mentioned in The Green Brain are called Carsonites—clearly a tribute to The Silent Spring!)  A story about pesticides and overpopulation?  That was both relevant and timely in the mid-sixties.  It fits neatly into the tradition of science fiction both as speculative fiction and as dreadful warning: If you keep doing this, this will happen....

On the other hand... things get weird in this book.  In some ways it reminds me of those "nature takes its revenge" movies that became popular in the 1970s, but "nature" in The Green Brain includes sentient hive minds capable of creating imitation human beings to act as their agents in a plot to take over the world.   There is simply no rational way to get from "here" (overuse of pesticides) to "there" (sentient insects)--and to be fair, Frank Herbert doesn't even try.

At least the heroes of seventies "B" movies only had to deal with plagues of tarantulas or incursions of giant rabbits!

Lastly I've got mention that I'm disappointed with the cover of this paperback.  It's messy, a bit generic, and doesn't convey anything in particular about the characters, the plot or the setting of the story.  The covers of science fiction books went through a bit of a rough patch in the late sixties after the glorious pulpiness of the fifties.  Fortunately for lovers of the genre, things picked up in the seventies!

Murder Most Foul by John Creasey (Corgi, 1973)

Grabbed, with a bagful of miscellaneous stuff, at the last Lifeline Bookfair:

Felicity Deverall, Patrick Dawlish's fiancee, was missing, presumed kidnapped.  The note had told Dawlish to go to the Ley Farm Cottage fast--and alone.

Dawlish hesitated: it could be a trap...but he decided to go and find out and climbed into his car.  He was reaching for his ignition key when he heard a voice through the open window: "Don't start your car.  Don't start your car."

Then a car drove off.
Puzzled, Dawlish sat holding the wheel, then he got out, walked to the front and lifted the bonnet.
It was a small container, no bigger than a matchbox, but had Dawlish turned the ignition, it would have blown him to bits.
A PATRICK DAWLISH THRILLER

 I've got to admit I bought this one just for its cover.  The dark woods in the background, the bright green grass in the foreground and the lonely figure sneaking across the centre of the picture drew me straight in.  It's nice to see that in an era when tacky photo covers abounded, there were still publishers prepared to release paperbacks with proper cover art!

Skylark of Valeron and Skylark DuQuesne by E.E. "Doc" Smith (Pyramid, 1967)

The last two volumes in the "Skylark Series"!

STAR WANDERER

As the mighty spaceship Skylark roved the intergalactic world, scientist Richard Seaton and his companions uncovered a world of disembodied intelligences.  A world of four dimensions where time was insanely distorted and matter obeyed no terrestial laws... where three-dimensional intellects were barely sufficient to thwart invisible mentalities!

My Ally, The Enemy

Dick Seaton and Marc DuQuesne are the deadliest enemies in the Universe -- their feud has blazed among the stars and changed the history of a thousand planets.  but now a threat from outside the Galaxy drives them into a dangerous alliance as hordes of strange races drive to a collision with mankind!

Seaton and DuQuesne fight and slave side by side to fend off the invasion -- as Seaton keeps constant, perilous watch for DuQuesne's inevitable double-cross!

More adventures of Dick Seaton and his merry chums, as they blithely invent new and improved weapons of mass destruction and impulsively leap into interstellar wars.  I could suggest that this is a metaphor for something--but instead I'll just say that the Boys' Own Adventure style of this series and some of the views expressed by the author jarred upon my modern sensibilities.

Like the previous two books in the Skylark series I bought these at the Woden Seniors' Club book fair.  They were printed a few years earlier than The Skylark of Space and Skylark Three and it shows in the cover design.  It also shows in the cover price--which rose by a whole fifteen cents between 1967 and 1970!

The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp (Pan, 1952)

More Lifeline treasures!

THE NUTMEG TREE, written with the light touch and bubbling humour that are characteristic of is author, is a joy to read.  Ex-chorus-girl Julia Packett, windowed in World War I after her brief marriage into a County family, wisely allowed her 'in-laws' to take full responsibility for her daughter Susan's upbringing, while she herself, improvident and indiscreet, returned to the stage-life she adored.  Now, verging on middle age, she is almost penniless when Susan writes begging her to join the family in France, for, says the letter, "I want to get married and Grandmother objects."  So Julia, prepared to behave as a lady should, yet ready to pounce on any crumbs of advantage that may fall in her path, sets out for the mountains of the Haute Savoie.  On the Channel boat she involves herself, rather indecorously, with a troupe of trapeze artists, and actually stays in Paris to take part in one of their performances.  Installed in the French villa she finds that Susan's young man is clearly unsuitable for Susan, but is a kindred spirit to herself and is unscrupulously  ready to exploit her delicate position if she opposes him.  Complications follow the arrival of Susan's guardian, the handsome Sir William Waring.  Julia flutters away--but of course not too far away!

I've mentioned before how much I love vintage Pan paperbacks, and how the  bi-annual Lifeline Bookfair lets me buy 'em by the bagful without worrying whether I'd actually enjoy reading them or not.  And sometimes I get lucky--very, very lucky.  This is one of my lucky finds.  It's a romantic comedy, with an unconventional heroine, by an author I've only vaguely heard of.  It's not at all deep and meaningful (there's no way I'm going to say It Changed My Life) but it's fun.  Just the sort of book to while away a Summer's afternoon--or to curl up with by the fire on a cold Winter's night.

An Axe to Grind by Erle Stanley Gardner (Four Square, 1958)

In this hard-hitting, swift-moving murder mystery the author introduces that notable private eye, Donald Lam, confidential agent of Cool & Lam.  He has said goodbye to the Navy, and is looking for peace and quiet. 

But before he has time to say "Hello" to Bertha Cool, trouble walks into the office.

Within thirty minutes, Donald is off to the Rimley rendezvous, a place for lonely women with little to do and money to spend.  From then on it's a matter of corpses and cops, with a beautiful girl called Billy Prue who gets herself into trouble. 

A. A. Fair (now known to be Erle Stanley Gardner, world's record-seller in detective fiction) has written an original murder story, salty with American dialogue and wisecracks.

Wow!  Another Cool and Lam mystery, which is great.  (This is easily the best series Erle Stanley Gardner ever wrote.  Really.)  Not so great is the cover.  It looks like the artist fell asleep during anatomy drawing class.  Either that, or he had serious problems with perspective.  I know the dame opening the door in the picture is meant to be leaning forwards, but her top half is dangerously out of proportion with the rest of her!

The Glass Slipper by M.G. Eberhart (Pan, 1952)

THE GLASS SLIPPER is a mystery novel by a well-known writer who excels in creating an atmosphere of tension and mystery.  A year ago Rue had been sent by the hospital to nurse Crystal Hatterick, wife of one of Chicago's most distinguished surgeons.  Crystal was a patient of Brule Hatterick's protégé and friend, Dr. Andrew Crittenden, and under his care she had been well on the road to recovery when suddenly, to everyone's amazement, she died.  And within a few months Rue became the second Mrs Hatterick, with the world at her feet--wealth, position, beauty.  Yet when someone called her Cinderella, and said, "I wonder--does the glass slipper ever pinch your little foot?" the arrow found its mark.  Complete happiness had eluded her.  Andy Crittenden is the first to tell her that she is suspected of murdering Crystal.  Events then move fast. Another death occurs.  The suspense grows!

I must admit the question that preoccupied me while I was reading this was, "What kind of author names her heroine 'Rue'?  And what prompts her to name another character 'Brule'?"  

Mignon Eberhart was once called the "American Agatha Christie", but judging by this there's a reason why her books have fallen into obscurity, while Christie's have never fallen out of print.  Agatha Christie's characters are often collections of stereotypes, but they live on the page.  The characters in The Glass Slipper—Rue and Brule, et al—are puppets that exist only to further the plot.  Christie's characters have motives for doing what they do—Eberhart's characters' actions make no sense!

This is one of the older Pan paperbacks in my collection--but not THE oldest.  That will be coming up shortly...

The Skylark of Space and Skylark Three by E.E. "Doc" Smith (Pyramid, 1970)

I went to a charity book fair the other weekend.  Someone had evidently been keen on traditional space opera, because I managed to find a number of vintage paperbacks containing early science fiction reprints:

IT STARTED ON EARTH...

Scientist Richard Seaton had discovered the secret of complete release of ultimate energy--the key to exploration of the Universe.  The powerful, unscrupulous DuQuesne, backed by a great industrial combine, tried every means to gain the secret.

... it ended in space, when Seaton, DuQuesne, and three others--two of them women--were marooned, countless light-years from Earth, with only one chance in a million of ever returning!

OSNOME

The first of the mighty Skylark spacecraft took Dick Seaton and Mart Crane on a fantastic tour of the galaxy and to the strange planet of Osnome.  Skylark Two returned them to Earth.  Now in this next adventure, they voyage again to Osnome to meet the deadly threat of war.

On the way, in the deeps of space, Seaton and Crane meet an alien spaceship.  From it they discover a danger more deadly and immediate than any planetary battle.  In a desperate race to mobilize the scientific talent of a score of planets, Seaton makes himself into a "superman" of knowledge and drives toward his goal of building the greatest spaceship of all time--Skylark Three!

Look up in the sky!  It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... a cosmic beach ball!  Seventies cover art meets very old-fashioned space opera, of the sort where men wield "rays" and women need rescuing.